TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

betty dalton The story is about Robert Duvall and Sean Penn policing the most violent neighbourhoods of L.A. which are a warzone for several gangs. Duvall plays the old, wise cop and Sean Penn's character is a rookie with more testoron than brains. The friction between these two cops in HOW to deal with crime is what this movie is all about. Great acting. Really true to life portrayal of police violence and gang life. Booming rap soundtrack. Photograhpy is chillingly bleak but beautifully shot. Dennis Hopper truly made his masterpiece with "Colors".Haven't seen a more realistic depiction of gang life ever. Dennis Hopper's movie about gang wars has become a "medal of honor", some sort of glorification of their lives, according to gang members in L.A, who enjoyed this movie. But for me as an ordinary citizen I just see poverty, drugs and endless series of pointless crimes in which innocent bystanders get killed. There is a desperate need for youngsters to seek bonds outside their broken families. If you aint got no home, then a gang can become a substitute. You could call "Colors" a buddy cop movie. Lots of those have been made. Lots of really average ones. This one truly excells in acting though. And it excells in true to life depiction of police brutality too. "Colors" has become a classic, which I admire because of the talents in it, but which saddens me because of the violent true to life portrayal of the poor neighbourhoods in L.A.Seperate endnote: Policing these neighbourhoods in the violent way it is done right now, is totally pointless and only aggravating the already grim situation of violence in these poor neighbourhoods of L.A. Watching "Colors" is the ultimate proof that you can't fight crime with violence. Because police violence only breeds more violence. Lift neighbourhoods out of poverty and gang crime wont pay off anymore. But unfortunately that is ofcourse a fairytale wish for the hardworking, struggling citizens of L.A, who for now are stuck, because they cant afford to move to a safer part of the city....

dee.reid And so goes the chorus for rapper Ice-T's hit gang warfare anthem "Colors," which also happened to be the name of the 1988 gang warfare action film "Colors," which was directed by the late actor/director Dennis Hopper, who does not appear at all in the film."Colors" was one of the earliest films to deal with the bloody gang violence that by 1988 when the film was released, close to 400 gang-related murders had occurred in the greater Los Angeles area. The police were overworked and unable to effectively deal with the increasing gang violence, communities were forced to live in fear, and the L.A. streets were a virtual war zone."Colors" was also different from previous films dealing with gangs in the fact that although it was told largely from the point-of-view of the dedicated police officers out there on the streets trying to curb the rising gang violence and ease community fears, it also showed us some of the inner-workings of gangs and why some people, mostly teenagers and young adults, join them and find such a dangerous lifestyle so rewarding. For once, gang members are given a human face so that we understand why they may do what they do as gangs.The film focuses on the L.A. Police Department's anti-gang C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) unit. At the beginning of the film, and using a set-up familiar to the many buddy-cop action films produced during the time, veteran C.R.A.S.H. officer Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall) is partnered up with the brash, young Danny McGavin (Sean Penn). Hodges knows the streets and has an informal rapport with many of the local L.A. gangs, and many of them know him; there's a sense of mutual respect between Hodges and the gang members. Danny also knows the streets, but knows nothing of how to fight the gangs terrorizing them and he just wants to bust heads and make arrests."Colors" is almost episodic as Hodges and Danny go from one anti-gang operation to another, but a plot of sorts forms at the scene of the latest gang homicide. A young "Blood" gang member is gunned down in his backyard by a rival "Crips" crew, led by Rocket (Don Cheadle, in an early role playing a character with much restrained malevolence). Hodges and McGavin are put on the case, and as their investigation goes on, it brings them into contact with many of the other local L.A. gangs fighting for "turf" in the streets - eventually culminating in a bloody turf war with the cops and surrounding communities caught in the middle."Colors" does have its weaknesses in an occasionally spotty script and weak dialogue. But the film keeps you watching and engaged to what's going on on the screen. Fault can be found, of course, with the buddy-cop formula of pairing a veteran like Robert Duvall with an unseasoned rookie in Sean Penn. But their pairing works, as the two constantly clash with one another over their differing approaches to the job - but gradually build a grudging respect for the other man and his perspective on how to best handle their situation."Colors" was also remarkable, as I mentioned earlier, in that the gang members themselves are not nameless, faceless entities occupying your typical us-vs.-them war flick. No. Hopper actually took the opportunity to go inside the gangs so that we get to know some of them as characters. We don't condone anything they do, but we get to know them and understand why gang-banging is so appealing - family, belonging, lack of ambition and/or opportunity, power/status, the overall lifestyle, etc. It was a brave and revealing, and unflinching, insight, and a departure, since not having this could have made "Colors" seem like your run-of-the-mill late-'80s cop movie.A great action-crime film that comes highly recommended from this viewer.8/10

Spikeopath Colors is directed by Dennis Hopper and written by Richard Di Lello and Michael Schiffer. It stars Robert Duvall, Sean Penn, Maria Conchita Alonso, Grand L. Bush, Randy Brooks, Glenn Plummer, Trinidad Silva and Don Cheadle. Music is by Herbie Hancock and cinematography by Haskell Wexler.Danny McGavin (Penn) transfers to the LAPD C.R.A.S.H. unit and is teamed with wise old veteran Bob Hodges (Duvall). Thrust in the middle of the gang wars of L.A., McGavin finds his hot head approach to policing may not be the way forward.Causing a bit of a stir upon release, with its depiction of gang life and violence, Colors is not as incendiary as that early reputation suggests. It's solidly put together, has the odd throat grabbing scene and the message is loud and clear without banging us over the head. It's also note worthy that a deal of authenticity comes out in the script. However, were it not for the lead performances of Penn and Duvall then much of Colors would be rendered as significantly restrained.The two actors find great and believable chemistry whilst never resorting to twee buddy-buddy histrionics. It's this relationship that keeps Colors pulsing, their contrasting styles of policing keeping the character study interesting as the gang life axis fizzles to a near non event. Unfortunately, because the cop pairing is so strong, it means that a romance thread between McGavin and Louisa Gomez (Alonso) feels tacked on and the actress just isn't good enough to lift it away from pointless irritation.With the lead gang players too thinly drawn, it's hard to get a handle on what is meant to be bubbling under the surface of Colors. A shame because there's some good actors spread out in the cast. It's like Hopper set off to make a potent police procedural in the hot-bed of L.A. (filmed on location), but as Duvall and Penn (also making headlines off screen at this time!) began to hold court, he encouraged and stayed with that angle, thus it's not all it can be as intelligent filmic entertainment. Lead actors, a stunningly poignant finale and the sight of Damon Wayans in his underwear dancing with a giant cuddly bunny, ensure it's never dull! But frustrations exist and the question of "what might have been" comes springing to mind as the end credits roll. 6.5/10

batroc2700 What a movie. Glorifying gang life and the Po-Po looks effective for the Hollywood makeover. Some scenes feel true, others not so much.Fantastic actors in their primes. The cops were gritty. The gangstas were real... ish. The streets definitely looked authentic. Wonder how much they had to crowd control the neighborhood gangs in the area? A look into a world pre-Riots (1992) and post Neighborhood Watch (2012) - a 20 year difference in exposure. Now we have the "Interwebs" as a certain starlet first said. Would we be seeing this world without movies? Don't think so.Thank God for filmmakers having the courage and resources that believed in them to make them.Then and Now.An endurable world still living in the underbelly of our lives.Go watch.